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A fifth of under-25s to leave Britain by age 40

The Office of Budget Responsibility has said a surge of young immigrants would help Britain's finances but research suggests millions of young Britons want to leave.

By Andrew Oxlade
7:29AM BST 19 Jul 2013

A fifth of young people do not expect to be living in the UK after age 40, a study suggests.

The main reason cited for wanting to join the millions who are already expats was to find better paid jobs elsewhere.

The research findings came a day after a bleak assessment on the Office of Budget Responsibility on Britain's financial future. It warned that the ageing population would lead to a severe worsening of state finances, but which could be mitigated by letting in more than 140,000 immigrants into Britain a year, equivalent to six million people.

This would improve the balance between the proportion of tax-paying workers and those retired.

But today's study, conducted by GlobalVisas.com, suggests that a large chunk of the population intend to live abroad by the time they reach their age of peak earning and tax paying.

Of the 1,451 people aged between 18 and 25 interviewed, 21pc said they intended to move abroad when they were 'no older than 40'.

The most common reason given for that age was that they would have secured enough savings and employment experience to get a good job abroad by that stage.

When asked why they wanted to go, 41pc said that they felt there were "more employment opportunities" abroad and 32pc felt that the world was "bigger than Britain". Among the responses, 7pc expressed concerns about future overcrowding in the UK.

Liam Clifford of GlobalVisas.com said: "In order to achieve a sustainable level of debt within the economy, it seems that Brits face a wave of further spending cuts, tax increases and increased immigration to support the ageing population.

"It's perhaps understandable that the younger generation may consider moving abroad to avoid the impact of these measures whilst they still enjoy the flexibility of youth."

"The results of our survey could be considered worrying for future governments, as it seems that the pillars of support in place for the older generation, rather than being propped up by immigration, are in danger of being removed by emigration as the young consider 'jumping ship'. Economic woes could create a vicious cycle, which the UK may struggle to counteract."

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/expat-money/10188337/A-fifth-of-under-25s-to-leave-Britain-by-age-40.html

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Landlords profit from the housing price boom

The boom in Britain’s property market is fuelling a huge jump in profits for the country’s growing army of Buy to Let landlords.

By Steve Hawkes, Consumer Affairs Editor
10:46PM BST 19 Sep 2013

Near record rental values coupled with the rise in house prices will generate average returns of 13% in the next twelve months, more than £22,000 per property, a report found.

It also revealed rents are within £1 of their all-time high at £743 a month in England and Wales. August’s figure marks a 0.7 per cent increase on July and is up 1.3 per cent on August last year.

David Newnes, of lettings giant LSL Property Services, which released the report, said if rental property prices continue to rise at the same pace as over the last three months the average buy-to-let investor should make a total annual return of 13.1 per cent over the next 12 months - equivalent to £22,065 per property.

London is driving the rise in rents in the capital rising three-and-half times faster than England and Wales over the last 12 months.

They are now averaging £1,126 in London, 4.8 per cent higher than last year. Official figures also showed that house prices in London are up by nearly 10% year-on-year, indicating the strength of demand for homes in the capital.

Wales saw the second biggest annual increase in rents, with a 2.3 per cent uplift taking average rents to £561. The South East recorded the strongest month-on-month growth, with a 2% rise pushing monthly rents to £762.

The North East saw the biggest month-on-month drop in rents, with a 0.8 per cent fall taking average rents to £523.

LSL’s findings are based on rents achieved on around 20,000 properties and its records go back to January 2008.

The findings will spark fresh concerns that Government cheap credit schemes designed to kick-start the housing market are helping wealthier investors rather than first time buyers struggling to get onto the property ladder.

Figures earlier this month revealed that mortgage lending rose by the fastest pace since before the credit crisis between April and July, with £5 billion going to landlords, up £1.1 billion on 12 months ago. Landlords are accounting for one in ten mortgages.

Across the country, rental inflation had been cooling off for much of this year in the immediate aftermath of the Government schemes to give people with low deposits a helping hand onto the property ladder asfirst time buyer numbers rose.

But Mr Newnes said that weak income growth, which has an impact on households’ ability to borrow, and a lack of housing supply means that the private rental sector is continuing to see strong demand from new tenants.

He said the upward pressure on rents is also coming from an uplift in student renters returning to the market as the new academic year begins.

Mr Newnes said: “Better availability of finance has allowed some households to leave the rental market. And rents certainly felt the short-term impact of that.

“But releasing a blast of pent-up pressure to buy a home is unlikely to change the long-term trend in renting.

“Although Government schemes are helping, buying a first home is still extremely hard on the back of low salary growth.”

Business secretary Vince Cable voiced fears of another housing bubble earlier thjis week but was slapped down by Chancellor George Osborne.

Housebuilders claim the real reason for rising propertuy prices and rental values is the sheer lack of available property nad new homes being built.

The sudden and dramatic upturn in activity has led to a 20 per cent surge in bricklayers salaries in the past six months. And there are shortages of bricks and blocks in “hotspots” across the UK, with brick prices tipped to rise 10 per cent.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertymarket/10322006/Landlords-profit-from-the-housing-price-boom.html